Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- All Subjects: race
- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
Description
Since Dylan Roof, a white supremacist, shot and killed nine members of a black church in Charleston on June 17, 2015, Confederate symbols have stood at the center of much controversy across the United States. Although the Confederate battle flag remains the most obvious example, the debate took a particular form in Tennessee, centering on the image of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Born in 1822 to a poor family, he left school early to work. Although his work in the slave trade made him a millionaire, his later participation in the massacre of over 300 black soldiers at Fort Pillow in 1864 during the Civil War and association with the Ku Klux Klan cemented his reputation as a violent racist. Yet, many white Tennesseans praised him as a hero and memorialized him. This thesis examines Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park in Benton County and Forrest Park, now Health Sciences Park, in Memphis to examine what characteristics denote a controversial memorial. Specifically, I focus on the physical form, the location, and the demographics of the area, investigating how these components work together to give rise to controversy or acceptance of the memorial's image. Physical representations greatly impact the ideas associated with the memorial while racial demographics affect whether or not Forrest's representation as a hero speaks true to modern interpretations and opinions.
ContributorsFish, Caroline Rose (Author) / Longley, Rodney (Thesis director) / Suk, Mina (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In this paper I conduct a comparative analysis of how proportional representation electoral systems could affect the political representation of racial and ethnic minorities if adopted in America. In order to do this I first discuss the central ideas of proportional representation in conjunction with a historical and contemporary view of the American electoral system. Using this discussion as a basic framework I enter a more in depth discussion about the pros and cons of PR systems, especially in so far as party lists, district magnitude, and links between constituent and representative. To better contextualize the American electoral system I then use case studies featuring New Zealand, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and Germany. These case studies discuss important aspects of each country's electoral system and how they have affected ethnic and racial minorities within those countries. Each case study concludes with an assessment of how a similar system might work if adopted in America which aims to inform a broader discussion about electoral reform. Finally I conclude with a discussion of my findings that recognizes how proportional representation systems open new pathways for minority representation, while still urging caution in viewing those systems as a straightforward solution to the chronic underrepresentation of America's ethnic and racial minorities in politics.
ContributorsNeu, David (Author) / Kittilson, Miki (Thesis director) / Simhony, Avital (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description"Writing the Races" is a documentary exploring how two writers talk about race in their comedy television shows. http://www.writingtheraces.com/
ContributorsTyau, Nicole Jenice (Author) / Rodriguez, Rick (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This research examines popular culture’s influence on public perceptions of criminality and criminal justice reform. I have a two-pronged focus: first, I examine how specific cultural texts present criminal behavior, policing, and the criminal justice system; second, I show how these texts’ portrayals of criminal behavior, policing, and the criminal justice system, influence public perceptions about criminal justice reform. Throughout the era of filmmaking and the heightened growth of media consumption, the representation of crime and criminals has had a profound presence in film and media, but with little guidance or fact-checking from the general public and its creators (Welsh, Fleming and Dowler, 2011). Despite this, public perception of the law and reality continues to find its line being constantly blurred, with legal theorist, Richard Sherwin asserting that “The majority of American citizens form their opinions about the criminal justice system through the mass media, and more often than not, from fictional accounts of the trial process” (Alford, 2000). This in turn leads to a culture of preconceived notions that later form into political and social opinions with an unknown negative bias against reform efforts and legal accuracy (Sarat, 2015).
ContributorsMartinez, Maria Priscilla (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Mexica, Cuauhtemoc (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Textbooks are crucial in classrooms when it comes to developing lesson plans and curriculum for the classroom. They serve as a way for students to learn more about a certain topic in depth and can improve reading comprehension skills. However, as past studies have shown (Grever and van der Vlies), textbooks can be one-sided and leave out stories and perspectives from marginalized groups, such as African Americans and Indigenous peoples. Multiple perspectives in textbooks allow students to use historical consciousness to reflect how these historical events have an impact on modern society. Arizona has been in a unique political position over the past decade. In 2011, the state legislature passed a bill banning ethnic studies to be taught in schools. This was eventually reversed by the Court in 2017. Recently, the Governor signed two bills regarding education, which are improving curriculum on the Holocaust and banning critical race theory from being taught in schools. Because of Arizona’s geographic diversity, textbook content might vary since Arizona holds the most federally recognized tribes and borders Mexico. To analyze those differences, the 15 counties of Arizona are grouped into five regions, and from each region, one textbook will be analyzed. The textbooks will be coded for each racial community, which will be Asian American, Hispanic American, Black American, and Indigenous American. It is concluded that there is a direct relationship between the textbooks chosen and the racial groups that are covered in these books. Counties that had a larger Indigenous population tended to have a textbook that would cover more Indigenous history.
ContributorsNatarajan, Anusha (Author) / Kappes, Janelle (Thesis director) / O'Donnell, Catherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Since the early 2010s, there seems to be a shift from the dominant Eurocentric beauty ideal to a new beauty standard that embodies more ethnic features, reflected in the growing number of women who want to enhance or adopt ethnic features through cosmetic procedures. As more white women adopt this new beauty standard, research into how perceptions of race are shifting is warranted and thus I explore the following question: What can we learn from white women who have undergone cosmetic procedures to appear less white and how are contemporary beauty standards changing perceptions of race?
ContributorsPatel, Nikita (Author) / Fontinha de Alcantara, Christiane (Thesis director) / Fedock, Rachel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Workplaces in the U.S. have historically been plagued by incivility directed at minority employees. Individuals have continuously been subjected to harassment, hostility, and discomfort while at work due to the lack of support given to minorities in these spaces. In a constantly changing environment, this problem only appears to be getting worse. Examining the issue through an intersectional lens shows a fuller picture. By putting into place a dynamic framework that identifies, solves, and predicts demographic related workplace incivility, organizations will be better equipped to create a positive work environment. The outcome being improved productivity and synergy. Most importantly, empowering minority groups that have previously been mistreated is invaluable to the wellbeing of these individuals and the employers.
ContributorsFincher, Joshua (Author) / Sturgess, Jessica (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
In the United States, Black defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death than their white counterparts exclusively due to their race. There are several aspects that work to explain why this pattern is present, and this paper analyzes our current sentencing disparity through the lens of race to understand why this is the case. First, the historical context of legal racial discrimination will be explored as I discuss the legacy slavery and how the trade and ownership of Black people led to the devaluation of African Americans long after the 13th Amendment abolished the practice. This is seen from the establishment of convict leasing directly following abolition, to the development of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, and eventually this legacy became the foundation that contributed to the targeted mass incarceration of African Americans beginning with Richard Nixon’s 1970s “war on drugs” campaign and spanning to today. Next, six important milestone Supreme Court cases relating to the evolution of capital punishment in the United States will be described. These cases include Furman v. Georgia, Gregg v. Georgia, Lockett v. Ohio, Batson v. Kentucky, and McCleskey v. Kemp. This research also presents data that illustrates the current trends in death penalty sentencing within 26 states who currently implement this punishment. The results show that there is an overwhelming amount of data in support of harsher criminal sentences and therefore a higher likelihood of Black defendants being sentenced to death in comparison to their white counterparts. Lastly, the systemic inequalities embedded within several aspects of capital trials are outlined—both in terms of juror bias against African American defendants as well as racial issues when hiring an attorney—and works to inform my argument that the death penalty should be abolished. An offender’s race should not play any role in determining the severity of their punishment, but the historic criminalization of Black people works to ensure that these groups of people are typically at a severe disadvantage when navigating the American justice system. Overall, the application of the death penalty can not be applied in a standard manner, nor can there be regulations passed in such a way to guarantee an absence of racism within our current system. Therefore, the United States should abolish this unjust, discriminatory practice.
ContributorsSasselli, Annabella (Author) / Shabazz, Rashad (Thesis director) / Corey, Susan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2023-12